Mice Problem---FED UP (Memphis: apartments, lease, house)

[Qubiita]

I am writing this morning because this is the last draw and I'm desperate for advice!
Last night I came in from out of town and while I was getting my stuff out the car my girlfriend comes outside and states a mouse ran across her feet from UNDER MY BED and ran out the room! The next morning THIS morning I am laying in my bed and I felt something jump in my bed in my ear. I felt claws grab my bed as if you know your dog or cat attempts to jump in the bed. The only thing is I dont have any pets!! I jumped out my bed and ran full speed down the hallway while yelling at my girlfriend to get out the bed now from in the living room. Then my girllfriend tells me just a few days ago when she had company over and they hear this loud scratching in the wall. THE COMPANY runs into the kitchen and was like did you hear that? This isnt the first time I have dealt with mice in this duplex. This is the 3rd or 4th one!

Rewind:
After a month of seeing tears thru my trash bags I originally thought it was snagging on to something sharp on the door. I finally realized it was a mouse when my to-go box had a big hole eaten thru it and it left hot wing bones all on my floor! After I freaked out I made my landlord aware. I stopped hanging my bags on the door. He sealed the holes that we thought were the point of entry. So we placed a bag on the door to check if we still had the issue. We woke up and there were rips in the bag again! WE then started closing any additional holes ourselves.One day after a long day of work I went to the bathroom and while sitting on the toilet a mice ran clear in the bathroom and I ran completely out pants down and all. I am terrified of mice. We placed traps and the landlord did as well. Finally we caught one! ok throw we it out. A few days later there was this horrible smell throughout my hole house as if another mouse was caught and died. We looked over the ENTIRE house but could not find it but the smell is very potent throughout the whole house. They seem to be in the wall and ALSO in the attic & the attic we do not have access to. We would hear scratching and movement above us in the ceiling and in the wall.

Fastforward to this morning. Last night was the 3 or 4th face to face experience we have had with mice. I have a 6 year old and this is no way to live. I live in fear to go to the bathroom and now lay in my bed. I have done everything possible to get rid of these mice but somehow they keep coming in. I am relocating to a different state and I am in the process of trying to transfer my lease to someone. BUT I will NOT transfer my lease over to anyone (especially family with children) when knowing this house has an infestation of mice! I called my landlord at 5:30 this morning & told him I WANT OUT NOW! I have a child and for a mice to try to jump in my bed at 5 in the morning is terrifying.

What would you do? Can I just break my lease instead of trying to find someone to take over my lease? I dont want to be liable with transferring my lease over when I know for a fact there is a huge mice problem plus I couldnt do that to a family with children or ANYONE.

[My_home_town]

Mice are not the kind of pets we want running around our homes. Have young children walking around and then you have a problem. Sounds like you have spoken time and again with your landlord. While he or she has tried to help resolve the problem, the mice still roam. If you've done all you can such as moving garbage out and away from your home, cleaning and storing pots and pans and keeeping food in containers, then you've done your part. The landlord needs to do theirs.

You need to calmly sit down with your landlord and express your concerns as you did here. Let them know you must live in a rodent free environment. You'll need to ask to be released from your lease with no penalty as you must live in a healthier situation. If there is no help in either removing the varmints or letting you out of your lease, contact a lawyer. Your life is in danger and you need to find a different place to live.

Good luck.

[Jardine8]

It is really tough to seal off a house or apartment from mice. They are so tiny and can squeeze into and under unbelievably small spaces. A duplex would be even tougher to control, as they could easily be entering via a neighbor's apartment.

I would glue trap and poison that place to death, though people will say that it isn't humane and if a mouse dies in the walls or behind a cabinet, then the smell could be terrible.

[convextech]

Try the bucket trap.

You will need:

big tall bucket (I use a five-gallon)
3-4 feet length of twine
soda or beer can
peanut butter

Poke a hole through the bottom of the can and thread the twine through the hole and the mouth of the can, then slightly flatten one side of the can.

Tie the twine across the lip of the bucket, centering the aluminum can.

Fill the bucket halfway with water.

Spread peanut butter on the flattened side of the can.

Put the bucket somewhere it won't be disturbed, and leave it alone. It might take a couple days, but eventually a mouse will try to climb up the twine to get to the peanut butter, then will fall in the water and drown. I've caught several in one night using this method.

[brentwoodgirl]

Originally Posted by Jardine8

It is really tough to seal off a house or apartment from mice. They are so tiny and can squeeze into and under unbelievably small spaces. A duplex would be even tougher to control, as they could easily be entering via a neighbor's apartment.

I would glue trap and poison that place to death, though people will say that it isn't humane and if a mouse dies in the walls or behind a cabinet, then the smell could be terrible.

This. I lived in an apartment in Memphis for a few months before moving to Nashville. The apartments were new, and I kept my apartment really clean, but I had a HUGE mouse problem. It was disgusting. My sweet boyfriend (now husband) set traps in my apartment and used to meet me at my apartment to check the traps when I would come home from work. They seemed to all come through the wall I shared with a neighboring apartment, which unfortunately, was my kitchen wall. One morning a mouse ran across my foot while I was cooking breakfast. The memory still makes me shudder. They were most likely keeping their apartment as a pigsty, so there wasn't much I could do to keep the mice out of my apartment. Shared living has some definite drawbacks.